The AI Ladder

Chapter 2. The Journey to AI

For the past few years, it’s been difficult to escape the constant barrage of news about AI. We’ve seen everything: skepticism, excitement, analyst pronouncements, news reports about successes and failures, new tools, new platforms, and new problems. We’ve certainly seen lots of press telling businesses how they can take advantage of AI, and it would be hard to miss how every vendor is telling you there’s AI in its product or service. Hype? Certainly. But beneath that hype there’s also a reality. From the smallest startups to the largest enterprises, companies are reaching out to AI to improve everything from customer service to fundamental research. What’s easy to miss in all the news about deepfakes, Go champions, and the rest is that companies are starting to use AI to reinvent their businesses.

Systems like Project Debater from IBM, along with DeepMind’s success in playing Go at a world championship level, have illustrated the potential of AI. However, there is a big difference in the data acumen required for AI demonstrations, consumer applications, and enterprise applications. Digital assistants such as Apple HomePod and Amazon Alexa use AI to serve basic consumer functions. But in many respects, building successful enterprise applications is more difficult than selling a voice-enabled consumer product, or even winning a complex game like Go (an incredible feat). In the enterprise, companies need to use AI to reinvent their businesses. They’re ...